Foreign aid, Cashgate and trusting relationships amongst stakeholders: key factors contributing to (mal) functioning of the Malawian health system.

Malawi has a long history of receiving foreign aid, both monetary and technical support, for its health and other services provision. In the past two decades, foreign aid has increased, with the aim of the country being able to achieve its Millennium Development Goals by the end of 2015. It is currently moving towards achieving the sustainable development goals.

New forms of development: branding innovative ideas and bidding for foreign aid in the maternal and child health service in Nepal.

Background: Nepal has been receiving foreign aid since the early 1950s. Currently, the country's health care system is heavily dependent on aid, even for the provision of basic health services to its people. Globally, the mechanism for the dispersal of foreign aid is becoming increasingly complex.

A comparative study of the use of the Istanbul Protocol amongst civil society organizations in low-income countries.

The Istanbul Protocol (IP) is one of the great success stories of the global anti-torture movement, setting out universal guidelines for the production of rigorous, objective and reliable evidence about allegations of torture and ill-treatment. The IP is explicitly designed to outline 'minimum standards for States'. However, it is all too often left to civil society organizations to investigate allegations of torture and ill-treatment.

Understanding Health Research Ethics in Nepal.

Unlike other countries in South Asia, in Nepal research in the health sector has a relatively recent history. Most health research activities in the country are sponsored by international collaborative assemblages of aid agencies and universities. Data from Nepal Health Research Council shows that, officially, 1,212 health research activities have been carried out between 1991 and 2014.

Conflict resilience among community forestry user groups: experiences in Nepal.

This paper explores the impact of violent conflict in Nepal on the functioning of community forestry user groups (CFUGs), particularly those supported by the Livelihoods and Forestry Programme, funded by the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID). The key questions are: (i) what explains the resilience of CFUGs operating at the time of conflict?; (ii) what institutional arrangements and strategies allowed them to continue working under conflict conditions?; and (iii) what lessons can be drawn for donor-supported development around the world? The study contributes to other research on the everyday experiences of residents of Nepal living in a period of conflict. It suggests that CFUG resilience was the result of the institutional set up of community forestry and the employment of various tactics by the CFUGs.